Well that was fun, wasn’t it, kids?
We got to live for a day. We got to dream. Those of you more politically inclined, and certainly more Democratically (big-D and little-d) inclined than I got to run around, shake hands, pretend it was 1960 or 1968, but this time the promise was real. We got to think this one was different, that once again we could believe and that cynicism would get swallowed up, just for a moment, in the wave of euphoric hope that people claim abounds in this country.
It was exciting – thrilling even. I’ll even admit that I had some hope somewhere amidst it. It didn’t seem feasible, it didn’t make any sense, but hey… George Mason was in the Final Four a couple years ago.
Funny thing about George Mason. They still lost. By 15 points. In the semifinal.
The only consolation is that we get to keep our dream. We don’t have to watch an Obama presidency go down in the flames of compromise and selling out. We don’t have to watch him reveal himself as or become an establishment prop. We don’t have to see the glowing rhetoric turned to justifications for war or tax cuts or individual mandates to buy health care. We can keep the dream. Just like with RFK, but with less blood.
I know what you’re all thinking and saying, rolling your eyes and lamenting my dim awareness of things. Obama still has a lead in the delegate count! Obama is the clear choice of the people!
Here’s the thing, folks… the party establishment has been looking for approximately ever for excuses and reasons to pick Hillary over Barack. She has had the lead among superdelegates, the bellwether barometer of where the party establishment is going, since the beginning. A couple people started to falter in her support once Obama had crazy momentum, but even then she maintained a lead and a lot of people were hemming and hawing about “why we have superdelegates in the process”.
America loves its winners and once Hillary starts to look like a winner again, I don’t see how people will be able to hold it back. She’s again been able to dress herself up as Cinderella – and unlike all the March Madness and election Cinderellas of the past, she’s actually female. It could be argued at this point that the Clintons actually throw some primaries so they can always fit the bill of the American underdog that you just know is going to win. Incredible territory to steal from John McCain and Barack Obama. Unbelievable that the story going into August or November will be about how Hillary Clinton is the candidate of infinite comebacks… the same Hillary who was the presumptive president-elect for the entire year 2007. Pretty much no one can manipulate the public like the Clintons. Except maybe the Bushes. Ah, monarchy.
As alluded to earlier, I saw “The Other Boleyn Girl” two nights ago. It may be the revision of history looking back, but King Henry VIII was seen to quake in the wake of the scorn of his supporters at times. He trembled at the idea of casting out his popular first wife and even more at separation with the Catholic Church. How would the public think? How would they react?
If only he had had color televisions, cable news pundits, a rabble-rousing but ultimately unsupported rival, and the appearance of an ongoing rivalry with a power-sharing partner. That’s how to really keep them in check, Henry. The real American revolution was not democracy… it was how to evolve and perfect monarchy without letting anyone know that’s what was happening.
Do I still hope to be wrong, again? Sure. Why not, just for you. But haven’t we really known all along exactly how this would go down?
Good, if somewhat predictable, theater makes for really bad governance. God save the queen.
